Hideki Kamiya has confirmed a long-standing fan theory that Leon Kennedy is named after the titular character in Luc Besson's Léon: The Professional (or simply Léon for those outside of the US).
Over on Twitter, Kamiya recalls that during the result of his directorial debut, Resident Evil 2, he consulted Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami about what he should name the protagonist of the game. He claims that after being shot down on a few ideas, he suggested taking the name of the character of a film he had recently watched, which just so happened to be Leon.
